Developing new methods to compute Dirichlet process models for nonparametric Bayesian methods
Developing mixture models using both frequentist and Bayesian techniques and applying these methods to model population heterogeneity
Applying statistical methods in psychiatric research, especially in the areas of schizophrenia, learning disabilities, and suicide
Applying and improving statistical techniques in the medical, biological, and public health sciences
Primary Teaching Responsibilities
CHL 5223H Applied Bayesian Methods
Honours & Awards
LJ Savage Thesis award
Representative Publications
Shaywitz SE, Escobar MD, Shaywitz BA, Fletcher JM, Makuch R. Evidence that Dyslexia May Represent the Lower Tail of a Normal Distribution of Reading Ability. The New England Journal of Medicine 1992; 326:145-150.
Escobar MD. Estimating Normal Means with a Dirichlet Process Prior. Journal of the American Statistical Association 1994; 89:268-277.
Escobar MD and West M. Bayesian Density Estimation and Inference Using Mixtures. Journal of the American Statistical Association 1995; 90:577-588.
Wong, A., Escobar, M., Lesage, A., Loyer, M., Vanier, C., Sakinofsky, I., “Are United Nations Peacekeepers at Risk for Suicide?” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 2001, 31, 103-112.
Roeder, K., Escobar, M., Kadane, J., and Balazs, I., “Measuring Heterogeneity in Forensic Databases,” Biometrika, 1998, 85, 269-287.
Beitchman, J.H., Wilson, B., Johnson, C.J., Atkinson, L., Young, A., Adlaf, E., Escobar, M., and Douglas, L., “Fourteen-year follow-up of speech/language impaired and control children: Psychiatric outcome,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2001, 40(1), 75-82.
Escobar, M.D. and West, M., “Computing Bayesian Nonparametric Hierarchical Models,” in Practical Nonparametric and Semiparametric Bayesian Statistics, eds: D. Dey, P. Muller, D. Sinha, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1998, pp. 1-22.
Korn, C., Andrews, R.C., Escobar, M.D., “Development of Chlorine Dioxide-Related By-Product Models for Drinking Water Treatment,” Water Research, 2002, 36(1), 330-342.
Buckeridge, D.L., Glazier, R., Harvey, B.J., Escobar, M., Amrhein, C., Frank, J., “Effect of motor vehicle emmissions on respiratory health in an urban area,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2002;110(3):293-300.
Ratcliff, G., Colantonio, A., Escobar, M., Chase, S., Vernich, L., “Long Term Survivial following Traumatic Brain Injury,” Disability and Rehabilitation, 2005, 27, 305-314.
